The evolution of nitric oxide signalling diverges between the animal and the green lineages
Résumé
Nitric oxide (NO) is a ubiquitous signalling molecule with widespread distribution in prokaryotes and eukaryotes where it is involved in countless physiological processes. While the mechanisms governing NO synthesis and signalling are well established in animals, the situation is less clear in the green lineage. Recent investigations have shown that NO synthase (NOS), the major enzymatic source for NO in animals, is absent in land plants but present in a limited number of algae. First detailed analysis highlighted that these new NOSs are functional but display specific structural features and probably original catalytic activities. Completing this picture, analyses were undertaken in order to investigate whether major components of the prototypic NO/cyclic GMP signalling cascades mediating many physiological effects of NO in animals were also present in plants. Only few homologues of soluble guanylate cyclases, cGMP-dependent protein kinases, cyclic nucleotide-gated channels and cGMP-regulated phosphodiesterases, were identified in some algal species and their presence did not correlate with that of NOSs. In contrast, GSNO reductase, a critical regulator of S-nitrosothiols, was recurrently found. Overall, these findings highlight that plants do not mediate NO signalling through the classical NO/cGMP-signalling module and support the concept that S-nitrosation is a ubiquitous NO-dependent signalling mechanism.